Gessy Alvarez of Digging Through the Fat delivers a fierce message to young writers: never ask for permission. 

Writing is about power. It is not about permission or acceptance. It is not pointless. It can be vain and arrogant. It is inconsistent. When my writing fails to gain an audience, I wallow for a bit, but I don’t give up. I begin a new writing project and work to gain a modest audience. But what drives me to write is not the prestige or accolades that may follow, it’s the challenge to create something that will outlive me.